Sun Sniper DPH Strap Review

I’m really happy to be reviewing the Sun Sniper DPH (Double Plus Harness) Strap today; apologies that it’s been so long since I last did a post on here (the birth of my daughter has meant quite a busy time for me!), I’m going to be keeping the site more up-to-date from now on, honest!

Anyway, I digress, back to the review. Here’s a shot of me with the Sun Sniper strap on, with a Canon 7D (with a 17 – 55 f/2.8 lens) and a Canon 500D (with a 70 – 200 f/2.8 IS II lens). Bear in mind that the shots in the post are really not very good – they were taken on an iphone, as my DSLRs were obviously not able to take shots of themselves!

Sun Sniper DPH Strap

I wanted to get this strap for this one, major reason: When I’m doing my wedding photography, I carry both my DSLRs at the same time – one with a shorter zoom lens (the 17 – 55), and one with the longer telephoto (the 70 – 200). Having two bodies on me means i don’t have to swap lenses all the time, and thus I stand a much better chance of ‘getting the shot’. The problem with how I used to do this, was that both cameras were around my neck, and so swapping between them meant that the straps got intertwined, and, well, it could be quite a nightmare. Putting the normal straps around my shoulders was no use, either, as they just weren’t safe like that. Enter the Sun Sniper…

To be short, I love it. The best thing? The fact that I can carry both my cameras, and quickly and smoothly go from shooting with one to the other. Here’s another shot of the strap in use:

See how the unused camera sits nicely at my hip, great!

The system works so simply, too – you just attach each camera to the strap system by using each camera’s tripod socket. It’s secure, and cleverly uses a great little swivel system, so the straps don’t twist, and you can quickly use the cameras in either landscape or portrait orientation.

Here’s a video which shows the strap in use (the video demonstrates each variant of the strap, all made by Sun Sniper – as you can just get a strap meant for one DSLR):

Another great thing about the strap? No more neck-tiredness, as the weight of the cameras are now on your shoulders, rather than all on your neck. That can’t be underestimated if you’ll be carrying two heavy cameras around all day! The shoulders straps are also nicely padded, so they feel really comfortable – even with the heavy 70 – 200 f/2.8 IS II lens on.

It’s also very secure, as the straps are lined with a steel cable – therefore, if security is an issue, such as if you’re walking around a busy market, or on holiday somewhere you don’t completely trust, your cameras are much less likely to get stolen by someone trying to cut through your strap – in fact, the strap actually comes with its own insurance; if someone does managed to cut through the strap and steal your camera, you’re covered up to $500/400 Euros.

I haven’t used the strap at a wedding yet, but I will do very soon – I’ll report back on its performance then, but I’m totally confidant that it will be superb. I do a lot of bending down at weddings, taking shots of children and so on, so another good thing is that each strap is adjustable in length, so I can bend down without worrying the long 70 – 200 is going to scrape the ground, as you can see from this pic:

Bending down is no problem either....

As a bonus, you can imagine you’re a wild west dueler too…

....draw!

The DPH can also be separated easily into two separate straps, should you wish to go out with just a single DSLR (they do also sell versions meant for just one camera, but getting the DPH means you can have the best of both worlds):

You can also wear just one part, for just one camera

It does also come with the means to attach a third camera – a small, compact camera, which would sit in the middle of your chest. I detached this, though, as I won’t be using it, so you can’t see it in my shots above. But it’s there if you really do want to have three cameras on you at once…!

So, as I mentioned, I’ll come back and do an update to this review after I’ve put it through a wedding, but I’m loving it at the moment; I’ve taken my normal straps off both my cameras, I won’t be needing them anymore…